Process for the manufacture of carbureted water gas using heavy oil



March 26, 1935. E. L. HALL PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBURETEDWATER GAS U SING HEAVY OIL Filed Feb. 9, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 "a mrcwroe March 26, 1935. E. L. HALL 1,995,921

PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBURETED WATER GAS USING HEAVY OILFiled Feb. 9, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I fa con flat/Z I 8 irramvsvjPatented Mar. 26, 19:35

v UNITED STATES" PAT'ENTN F, a

' PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF M BUBETED WATER GAS USING HEAVY n;

' Edwin L; mu, Philadelphia, Pa, assignor to The United Gas ImprovementCompany, Phlladelplaid, Pa.,*a corporation of Pennsylvania ApplicationFebruary 9, 1931, Serial No. 514,463

Claims. (01. 48-208)- The present invention relates to the manufacsteamsupplied to the base of the generator, the

ture of carbureted water gas.

' "The principal object of the invention is the provision of an improvedmethod of and appara- 5 tus for the manufacture of carbureted water gaswhich is especially adapted to the employment of heavy oils andresiduums as carburetin'g material.

an example'may be mentioned the so-called bunker oils. These may consistof topped crude oils and may or may not contain varying quantities ofcracker tar. On vaporization and cracking to produce gas they yieldcomparatively large .quantities of coke as compared with gas oil.

Due to the undue deposition of material in the checkerbrick withconsequent stoppage of the gas' passage, the vaporization of these heavyoils in the ordinary checker-filled carburetor is not the best practice.Bettermethods have been developed. For instance, vaporizing the oil onthe top of the generator fuel bed after the top of 30 the fuel bed hasbeen especially heated by secondary combustion of the producer gasgenerated by the primary air blast during the blow-or vaporizing theoils by spraying them through a nebulizing spray into an emptycarburetor or the employment of both of these methods. Whichever methodis employed it is a characteristic of these oils that although theirrapid vaporization requires a high tem rature the resultant oil vapors,for proper g, should not 40 be exposed to as high a temperature as thevapors .of ordinary gas oil.

' In the use of ordinary'gas oil the oil is va porized during the run(often only during the uprun) in the higher temperature heat storage inthe top of the carburetor, and-with the waten gas the resultant oilvapors traverse the path of the blast gases through the carburetor andsuperheater without overcracking. The temperature conditions set up inthe carburetor and superheater by the blasting operationare notexcessive for the proper fixing of the gas oil vapors.

The usual'cycles of operation comprisean air blasting of the fuel bed,combustion of the resultant producer gas andthe storing of its heat inthe carburetor and superheater, an uprun with 'washbox.

carbureting of the resultant water gas in the carburetor and thesuperheater, with oil sprayed into the carburetor, and a down or backrun. In. the case of the down run, steam is supplied to 5 the 'top ofthe fuel bed, and the resultant water gas either led through thecarburetor and superheater and carbureted with oil sprayed into thecarburetor, or led directly from the base of the generator to thewashbox. In the case of the 1 back'run, the steam is supplied to thesuperheater top and superheated in passage through the superheater andcarburetor, the resultant water gas passing from the base of thegenerator. to the In the use of heavy ofl however, the customary methodsof gas and vapor flow, lead to overcracking of the oil vapors, and tothe production of a relatively poor tar. e This overcracking isespecially vantageous o whereit is desired to use the tar or themanufacture of road compounds. It is present commonrpractice in suchmanufacture to usewater gas tar as a thinning medium for coal gas tar.

The water gas tar p oduced under the above described conditiom ofovercracking is likely to. be heavier than coal gas tar and valueless asa thinner for it. Its value as a fuel is only a fraction of its value asa road compound material.

' When the heavy oil is vaporized on the generator fuel bed by sprayingit onto the fuel bed top, which has beemheated by secondary combustionof. the producer gas generated by the primary blast and the ordinarydirections of gas and. vapor flow recited above are employed, the oilvapors encounter excessive temperatures in the carburetor; especiallyits top, and in the bottom of the superheater to alesser degree. If theoil is vaporized in the empty carburetor, the vapors encounter excessivetemperatures in the'base 4,0 of the superheater.

The use of the back run and its application of the well knowncounterflow principle is ordinarily advantageous in water gas manufacturas it recuperates heat from the heat storage vessels and returns it tothe generator; In the use of heavy oil, however, it tends to aggravatethe excessive local temperature conditions above described,

It is an object of the present invention to obviate the setting up ofsuch excessive temperso ature conditions and at the same time to reforthe heavy oil vaporization. It isthe further object of the invention tocontrol the temperature in at least a portion of the heat storage byselectively controlling the direction of the flow of the down run steamtherethrough.

The invention will be more particularly described in connection with theattached figures which form a part of this specification and in which,

Figure-1 shows a partial elevation and partial vertical cross section ofa carbureted .water gas set equipped with means for vaporizing heavy oilon the top of the fuel bed.

Figure 2 shows a partial elevation and partial vertical cross section ofa carbureted water gas set with heavy oil vaporized in an emptycarburetor.

Referring to'Figu're 1,

1 is the generator, 2 an ignited fuel bed, 3 and 4 are air and steamsupply means for up air blasting and steam running respectively. Thegenerator is further provided with the secondary air supply means 5,including the bustle pipe 6 and pipes '7 for marginally air blastingadjacent the top of the fuel bed. 8 is an oil supply means arranged tospray heavy oil onto the marginally heated ring at the top of the fuelbed. The top of the generator thus forms a hydrocarbon vaporizationapparatus. The generator is further provided with the gas oi'ftake 9provided with valve 10 leading to the carburetor 11.

The carburetor may or may not contain the checkerbrick 12. 13 is a steamsupply means at the top of the carburetor and 14 a steam supply means atits base.

The carburetor is connected by pipe 15 to the superheater 16, which isprovided with checkerbrick 17. The superheater is provided with thestack valve 18. The gas oiitake 19 leads through the reversing valve 20to the washbox 21, connection 22 provided with valve 23 leads to storageor other disposal. The superheater may be further provided with the gasofftake 24 leading to the waste heat boiler 25 and thence to the stack26. 27 is a stack valve.

The superheater is provided with connection 28 provided with valve 29leading to the top'of the generator. 30 is a steam jet. Carburetor 11and superheater 16 thus form heat exchange apparatus. I

The generator is provided with the gas oiftake 31, leading through thereversing valve,20 to the washbox 21. superheater 16 is provided withsteam inlet 32 near its base and with steam inlet 333 near its top.

In operation-the fuel bed is blasted with air supplied through 4 and theresultant producer gas burned with secondary air supplied through 5, 6and 7, thereby storing heat in the fuel bed and producing a marginal hotzone at the fuel bed top. The blast gases are led through the carburetorand superheater and waste heat boiler buretor and superheater where thevapors are fixed to oil gas, the. resultant carbureted water gas passingbyway of ofitake 19 to the washbox and thence by connection 22 tostorage.

are closed, valve 10 is open and the reversing valve settoopenconnection 19 and close connection 31.

After the uprun, valve 10 is closed, valve 29 opened and the reversingvalve reversed to close oiftake 19 and open offtake 31. A down run ismade with steam admitted to the carburetor at 13. The steam passes downthrough the carburetor and up through the superheaten thence by way ofconnection 28 to the top of the fuel bed and down through it. Theresultant water gas passes by way of connection 31 to the washbox andthence to storage.

After the down run a short uncarbureted ,uprun is made as a purge andthe cycle repeated.

In the down run above described, the down run steam admitted to the topof the carburetor reducesthe high temperature there. Steam may also beadmitted during the down run at 14 or 32 for ensuring a reduction of thetemperature in the base of the superheaten The desired tendency of thismethod of operation is the leveling of temperatures throughout thecarburetor and superheater. Heat is carried from the hotter portions tothe cooler portions instead of the reverse, as in the back runoperation, and the maximum temperature in the heat storage vessels iscloser to the average temperature.

Although other steps of the cycle, as for instance the blow, mayintervene between the down run and the uprun carbureting step themaximum temperature to which the oil vapors are exposed is lower than ifordinary directions of steam flow are followed. According to the presentinvention although the total heat in the heat storage need notnecessarily be less than, when operating according to ordinary methods,the maximum temperature to which the oil vapors are exposed is less andovercrackingis avoided.

As an example and purely for illustration, with the introduction of downrun steam at 13 and if the temperatures of the carburetor top, car-Pburetor base and superheaterbase are 1800" F. and 1500 F. and 1500 F.,respectively at the start of the down run, they may be reduced by thedown run steam to 1500 F., 1500 F. and 1300 F. respectively.

If the continued employment of the above described operation results intoo high a temperature at the superheater top, back runs may be made asneeded with steam supplied at'333 and passed through the superheater andcarburetor and down through the fuel bed, the resultant water gaspassing by way of connection 31 to the washbox. and 23 are closed andvalves10 and 22open. The reversing .valve 20 is set to open line 31 andclose line 19.

Referring to Fig, 2, v

33 is the generator, provided with an ignited fuel bed 34. 35 is an airsupply means for up air blasting. 36 is a steam supply means foruprunning. 3'1 is a secondary air supply means.

The generator is further provided with the gas ofltake as leading to thecarburetor 39. The carburetor is devoid of checkerbrick and is pro-'vided with the oil supply means 40 including a nebulizing spray.Carburetor 39' thus forms a hydrocarbon vaporization apparatus. Theconnection 41 provided with valve 42 leads from the carburetor to thesuperheater 43. The superwith the stack valve 45. The superheater thusDuring this operation, valves 18, 23 and 29 forms a" heat exchangeapparatus. Gas ofltake In such operation valves 29, 18

- heater is provided with the checkerbrick 44 and.

48 leads fro'm the superheater to the waste heat boiler 47 which isprovided with the stack 48 and stack valve 49.

The superheater is also provided with the gas oil'take50 leading throughthe reversing valve 51 to the washbox 52. Olftake 53 provided with van/e54 leads from the washbox to storage or other disposal.

The superheater is further provided with the connection 55 provided withvalve 56 and leading to the base of the carburetor and is provided withthe steam supply means 57 for introducing steam to the superheater basefor down running. Steam supply means 58 for introducing steam to the topof the superheater may also be provided for back running.

The generator is provided with the gas off ducer gases burned in thecarburetor and superheater with secondary air supplied at'B'l, storingheat in-the carburetor andsuperheater, passing from the superheaterthrough the waste heat boiler and thence to the stack.

After the air blow step, an uprun is made with valves 45, All and 56closed and valves 42 and 54 open and the reversing valve set as before.Steam is supplied to the fuel bed at'36, the resulting water gas passingthrough the carburetor and superheater in series, where it iscarburetedby spraying heavy oil into the carburetor through oil supplymeans 40. The resultant water gas passes throughconnection to thewashbox and to storage. 7 h

After the uprun, the reversing valve is reversed, opening line 59 andclosing line 50. Valve 42 is closed and valve 56 opened. Steam isadmitted to the base of the superheater at 57, passed up though thesuperheater reducing the high temperature in the superheater-base andsuperheat ing the steam which passes by way of connection the generatortop by way of connection 38. The

superheated steam passes down through the fuel bed, the resultant watergas passing to the washbox by way of connection 59.

After the down run a short uncarbureted uprun is made as a purge and thecycle repeated.

As described in connection with Figure 1, back runs may be made asdesired with steam supplied at 58, superheated in passing down throughthe superheatera'nd up through the carburetor and thence passing downthrough the fuel bed, the resulting water gas passing through connection59 to the washbox. In this step valves 45, 49 and 56 are closed, valves42 and 54 open and the reversing valve set to'open connection 59 andcloseconnection 50. a

I do not intend to be limited in the practice of my invention save asthe. scope of the prior art and of the attached claims may I I claim; 1.A process of manufacturing carbureted water gas in a deviceincluding agenerator containincandescence, burning theblast gases andconductingthem in one direction through said vaporization' apparatus andsaid heat exchange apparatus', and storing heat'therein; another stepbeing, introducing steam ,to'said fuel bed, generating blue water gastherein, vaporizing oil in said vaporization apparatus, carbureting thesaid water gas with said oil vap'ors,-and fixing said carbureted watergas in said heat exchange apparaand another step being, passing steamthrough said heat exchange apparatus in the same direction as the blastgases, and passing saidsteam' and the resulting gases through saidvaporization apparatus and said fuel bed in a direction opposite to thatof the blast gases, therebygenerating gas in said fuel bed.

2. A process of manufacturing carbureted water gas in a device includinga generator containing an ignited fuel bed, a hydrocarbon vaporizationapparatus, and heat exchange apparatus, which process includes thefollowing steps: one step being, air blasting the ignited fuel bed to'incandescence, burning the blast gases, and con-' ducting them in onedirection through said vaporization apparatus and said heat exchangeapparatus, and storing their heat therein; another step being, making anuprun with steam through said fuel-bed, generating blue water gastherein, vaporizing oil in said vaporization apparatus, carbureting thesaid water gas with said oil vapors, and fixing said carbureted watergas in said heat exchange apparatus; and another step being, passingsteam through said heat exchange apparatus in the same direction as theblast gases,.and passing said steam and the resulting gases through saidvaporization apparatus and said fuel bed in a direction opposite to thatof the blast gases, thereby generating gas in said ing an ignited fuelbed, a hydrocarbon vaporization apparatus, and heat exchange apparatus,which process includes the following steps: one step being, air blastingthe ignited fuel bed to incandescence, burning the blast gases andconducting them in one direction through said vaporization apparatus andsaid heat exchange apter gas in a device including a generator contain-I paratus, and storing heat therein; another step being, introducingsteam to said fuel bed, generating blue water gastherein, vaporizing oilin said vaporizingfapparatus, carbureting the said water gas with saidoil vapors, and fixing said carbureted-"water gas in said heat exchangeapparatus;' another step being, passing steam through said heat exchangeapparatus in the same direction as the blast gases; and passing saidsteam and the resultinggases through said vaporization apparatus andsaid fuel bed in a direction opposite to that of the blast gases,thereby generating gas in said fuel bed; and anotherv step being, makinga back run with steam through said heat exchange apparatus, through saidvaporization apparatus, and through said fuel bed, in a directionopposite to that of said bI ast gases, thereby generating gas in saidfuel bed.

4. A process of manufacturing carbureted water' gas in a deviceincluding a generator containing an ignited fuel bed, a hydrocarbonvapor-.

ization apparatus, and heat exchange apparatus, which process includesthe following steps: one step being, air blasting the ignited fuel bedto incandescence, burning the blast gases and conducting them in onedirection through said vaporization apparatus and said heat exchangeapparatus, and storing heat therein; another step being, introducingsteam to said fuel bed, generating blue water gas therein, vaporizingoil in said vaporizing apparatus, carbureting'the said water gas withsaid oil vapors, and fixing said carbureted water gas in said heatexchange apparatus: another step being, equalizing thetemperature insaid heat exchange apparatus by introducing steam to-the heat exchangeapparatus adjacent the hottest part of the apparatus, passing said steamthrough a part of the apparatus in the same direction as the blastgases, and passing said steam and the resulting gases through saidvaporization apparatus and said fuel bed in a direction opposite to thatof the blast gases, thereby generating gas in said 'fuel bed; andanother step being, making a back run with steam through said heatexchange apparatus, through said vaporization apparatus, and throughsaid fuel bed, in a direction opposite to that of said blast gases,thereby generating gas in said fuel bed.

5. A process of manufacturing carbureted water' gas in a deviceincluding a generator containing an ignited fuel bed, a hydrocarbonvaporization apparatus, and heat exchange apparatus, which processincludes the following steps: one step being, air blasting the ignitedfuel bed to inca'ndescence, burning the blast gases and conducting themin one direction through said vaporization apparatus and .said heatexchange apparatus, and storing heat therein; another step being,introducing steam to said fuel bed, generating blue water gas therein,vaporizing heavy oil in said vaporizing apparatus, carbureting' the saidwater gas with said oil vapors, and fixing said carbureted water gas insaid heat exchange apparatus; and another step being, preventing theexposure of the oil vapors and oil gas to too high a degree of heat byequalizing the temperature in said heat exchange apparatus byintroducing steam to theheat exchange apparatus adjacent the hottestpart of the apparatus, passing said steam through a part of theapparatus in the same direction as the blast gases and passing saidsteam and' the resulting gases through said vaporization apparatus andsaid fuel bed in a direction opposite to that of the blast gases,thereby generating gas in said fuel bed.

